Li Shang invoked his sword again, the blade shone with concentrated Yuan Qi. Blue-silver energy coursed through the metal. The air around the sword distorted slightly.
'So this is what this old man was hiding, but that face on his shoulder slightly resembles the First Hokage Hashirama, could it be?'
Danzou, noticing Li Shang's fixed gaze on his arm, smiled. It wasn't a smile of humor, but of calculated triumph.
'He's apprehensive, hehehe...'
The old warrior adjusted his stance, making the modified arm more visible, as if displaying a trophy. The ten Sharingans embedded in the pale flesh spun in unison.
"The last clan that posed a threat to the village was annihilated..."
Danzou spoke slowly, each word laden with weight and meaning. His eyes studied Li Shang, looking for any reaction, any emotional weakness he could exploit.
"Perhaps the Hyuuga clan will be next, right—" He couldn't finish his sentence.
With the amplified perception of his Sharingan, he perceived the incoming attack and raised a kunai at the last instant, surprised.
"Clang!"
Sparks flew from the contact of the weapons, briefly illuminating the faces of the two combatants. Li Shang was inches away, his blue Tenseigan eyes glowing with a cold, unforgiving light. There was no anger there, no hatred. Only absolute determination.
'He's too fast and decisive.'
Danzou pondered, surprised. The boy had crossed the distance between them in a blink of an eye. There was no preparation, no warning. Just pure, lethal action. 'This is not the Hyuuga combat style. They are methodical, defensive. This is...'
"Old man, please fight. Don't try mind games or mocking words. The only thing that matters to me is using you as a stone to refine my new realm."
Li Shang spoke while making several quick attacks with the sword.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Each blow was a line of death cutting through the air. Li Shang's sword moved like liquid lightning, attacking from impossible angles with speed that defied logic. Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, thrust. Each movement flowed into the next without wasting a single inch of motion.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Danzou retreated, his kunais blocking each attack out of pure necessity. The Sharingan in his right eye spun furiously, predicting each movement a fraction of a second before it happened. But predicting was not the same as being fast enough to react comfortably.
'Damn it! Even seeing his movements, I can barely keep up!'
The ground beneath Danzou's feet began to give way under the pressure of repeated impacts. Cracks spread in chaotic patterns, small stones bouncing with each collision of metal against metal.
Li Shang spun his body, using the momentum to add force to the next blow. The sword descended in a devastating arc, aiming for Danzou's neck.
The old warrior ducked at the last second, feeling the cutting wind pass over his head. He immediately counter-attacked with a kunai aimed at Li Shang's exposed abdomen.
But Li Shang was simply no longer there.
"Steps Between the Void."
Li Shang whispered, reappearing behind Danzou. His sword was already in motion, cutting towards the old man's spine.
'Damn!'
Danzou activated one of the Sharingans on his arm. "Izanagi!" [I will write the techniques to make it more visual for readers.]
The fatal blow that should have killed Danzou by piercing his back...
One of the Sharingans on his arm closed permanently, turning white and lifeless.
Danzou reappeared three meters to the right, untouched, as if the last two seconds had never existed.
"Interesting technique." Li Shang commented, his voice too calm for someone who had just had his attack nullified. "But how many times can you use that?"
His Tenseigan eyes shone more intensely. He could see the chakra flows, he could see how the technique worked. Reality and illusion intertwining, rewriting unfavorable events.
'Nine uses remaining. Sixty seconds per use if my estimate is correct.' Techniques like these were most used by soul cultivators.
"Hoshikami Shinsei!"
Li Shang shouted, raising his free hand. A wave of repulsive force exploded towards Danzou, destroying trees in its path.
Danzou jumped aside, but the wave grazed him, throwing him against a thick trunk. He hit hard enough to make the tree sway, leaves falling in a green shower.
"Suiton: Mizurappa!"
Danzou spat a high-pressure jet of water directly at Li Shang. The water cut through the air like a giant blade, capable of piercing solid rock.
Li Shang planted his feet on the ground. "Getsuryū Ten'in!"
The attractive force emanated from his outstretched palm. The jet of water curved in the air, being pulled and dispersed before reaching him. But that was what Danzou wanted.
The old warrior was already moving, using the dispersed water curtain as cover. He emerged from the side with three kunais between his fingers, each connected by almost invisible chakra threads.
"Fuuton: Shinkūha!"
The wind condensed around the kunais, transforming them into supersonic projectiles that tore through the air with a deadly hiss.
Li Shang spun his sword in a defensive arc, Yuan Qi exploding from the blade in a wall of energy. The kunais ricocheted, but Danzou was already pulling the threads.
The weapons changed trajectory in the air, curving to attack Li Shang from behind.
'He's combining attacks, predicting my defense!'
Li Shang lunged forward instead of retreating, narrowly escaping the encirclement. He landed in a roll and immediately advanced, closing the distance before Danzou could prepare another combination.
The sword cut horizontally. Danzou blocked with a kunai, but the impact caused the weapon to break, blood gushing.
"You are strong, boy." Danzou admitted, his voice tense. "But brute force isn't everything."
Another Sharingan on his arm glowed. "Izanagi!"
Reality trembled again. Li Shang felt the change in reality even before it was complete. His Tenseigan eyes caught the temporal distortion, the chakra rewriting the last seconds of existence.
"Not this time."
He activated his Steps Between the Void at the exact moment Izanagi began to function. His body flickered through space, escaping the reach of the forbidden technique.
Danzou reappeared where he expected to have an advantage, but Li Shang was no longer in the predicted spot. Another Sharingan on his arm closed, white and dead.
'Eight remaining.'
"You are wasting your trump cards too quickly, old man."
Li Shang appeared above Danzou, his sword descending like a lightning bolt of judgment. The Yuan Qi around the blade had intensified, forming a cutting aura that made the air scream.
Danzou crossed his arms, wind chakra condensing into an invisible armor. "Fuuton: Shinkū Taigyoku!"
The sword collided with the wind defense. For a moment, it seemed Danzou's technique would hold. Then the Yuan Qi began to corrode the wind chakra, devouring it like fire consumes paper.
The blade pierced through.
Blood gushed. Danzou screamed, recoiling while holding his left shoulder where a deep wound had been opened. His breathing was heavy, sweat trickling down his face.
"Impossible... what kind of chakra is this?"
"It's not chakra." Li Shang replied simply, advancing again.
That's when they arrived.
Tsunade appeared first, landing on a nearby tree with enough force to crack the branch. Her amber eyes immediately swept the scene, cataloging everything in a fraction of a second.
Kakashi and Guy appeared right behind, flanking the Hokage. Several ANBUs materialized around the battlefield, forming a perimeter.
"Stop immediately!" Tsunade ordered, her voice echoing with authority.
But her voice died when her eyes finally focused on Danzou.
The arm. The Sharingans embedded in the pale flesh. And that face on the shoulder, those unmistakable features.
"This is... impossible." Tsunade whispered, her face paling. Her hands began to tremble. "Grandpa's cells... Hashirama Senju's cells."
She had participated in the initial research, before everything was prohibited. She knew that skin texture, that unnatural coloration. It was the result of Senju cell implants, experiments that had been banned decades ago after killing dozens of test subjects.
"Tsunade-sama..." Kakashi began, his single visible eye wide with shock at seeing the Sharingans. "Those are..."
"Uchiha clan Sharingans." Guy completed, his normally cheerful expression replaced by horror. "But how? The massacre was..."
The implication hung in the air like a guillotine. If Danzou had Uchiha clan Sharingans, then he had collected the eyes during or after the massacre. Perhaps even before.
"Danzou." Tsunade said, her voice low and dangerous. "What have you done?"
The old warrior straightened his back, even wounded, his expression remained defiant. "What was necessary to protect Konoha."
"Protect?" Tsunade's voice rose an octave. "You violated every law we swore to uphold! Experiments with Hashirama's cells, illegal collection of Sharingans, and this..." She pointed to his arm. "This is desecration!"
The ANBUs exchanged glances, uncertain. This was an elder of the council, but the evidence before them was undeniable.
Li Shang remained silent, his sword still wielded, watching everything unfold. A small smile touched his lips.
'Exactly as planned. Now everyone sees the truth.'
Danzou realized he had lost. Not the physical fight, but something much more important. His moral authority, his political position, everything was crumbling before the witnesses.
His eyes narrowed, focusing on the Sharingan in his right eye. The Kotoamatsukami. He still had a card to play.
"Tsunade," he began, chakra accumulating. "let me explain—"
"Hoshikami Shinsei!"
Li Shang gave him no chance. The repulsion wave hit Danzou before he could activate the supreme genjutsu, throwing him even further into the forest.